


i can see my future in you

by melindamays



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Baby Fic, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Mentions of childbirth, speculation of 1x15
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-14
Updated: 2015-03-14
Packaged: 2018-03-17 19:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3541046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melindamays/pseuds/melindamays
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even if her Barry never came home, even if he never got to hold their babies, she knew that her old Barry - her young and idealistic best friend - would arrive at some point in their children's lives. Even if only for a short moment, that could be enough for her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i can see my future in you

**Author's Note:**

> This should have been written earlier in the hiatus, but I'm lazy and would only ever write during class so it took over a month to finish. Based off of minor spoilers and speculation of a time travel event that's supposed to happen in the upcoming episode (1x15) and since it's supposed to be a huge Westallen episode, but I tend not to pay attention to spoilers too much so I don't know what's supposed to happen at all.  
> This takes place roughly 5 days after Wells' newspaper article about Barry disappearing in the future. Also, I think the idea of Barry taking the last name West is really cute, since he was raised in the West household for some of his adolescence, so I factored that in here.  
> Title from Ne-Yo's song Future in You. I own absolutely nothing, and if I did .... Westallen would probably hurt a lot more than it already does, please keep me away from them, this is about as fluffy as I get.

April 29, 2024

Her husband had been missing for four days. She shouldn't panic, but she was in labor a month and a half early, and Barry was gone, what else was she supposed to do? Put her head between her knees and breathe? No, that's not how it worked, not when she felt how she did. Not when all she wanted to do was scream and cry and rage against the sky because Barry was good, he should be there at least for this.

Iris bounced lightly as she walked her path around the hospital room. She was trying to reconcile the fact that this was her fault, she wasn't even due until the middle of June, but she had put herself into so much stress that the babies were coming now. Her contractions were coming closer, and harder, the pain rolling down her body in waves. It didn't hurt as much as she had thought it would, but it still hurt. The pain of the contractions didn't hurt as much as knowing that Barry wouldn't be there to meet their children.

Even if her Barry never came home, even if he never got to hold their babies, she knew that her old Barry - her young and idealistic best friend - would arrive at some point in their children's lives. Even if only for a short moment, that could be enough for her. That's how she had found out that they were having twins, because he had let it slip one night even though he wasn't supposed to tell her that he knew. Or maybe he was supposed to tell her then... this whole time travel thing still hurt her head.

* * *

 

January 20, 2024

Iris poked at a bubble that was rising from the steaming water. The master bedroom tub was her favorite part of her home, it had always been a dream of hers to have a tub that could cover her knees and stomach at the same time, and Barry had made sure to make it come true. She climbed into the welcoming water, hissing a little as the warm water came into contact with her cool skin. She rested her head back on the bath pillow, her aching joints relaxing under the warmth of the water. Even though she was barely over four months pregnant, her legs were beginning to hurt on a constant basis, and that pain was creeping up her backs. And she didn't even want to think about how bad her morning sickness had been over the last five weeks. Leave it to the Flash to stick her in a pregnancy with hyper morning sickness.

She hated that her boss forced her to go to the scenes of the Flash, her own husband's, rescues. She was just going to hear about it that night when Barry came home - if he wasn't already home before her. So what if she needed to talk to the people he had rescued, she didn't understand why they couldn't just come down into the office. Especially not when she felt like throwing up whenever she was outside for longer than five minutes. She closed her eyes and relaxed deeper in the water.

A few minutes later she heard the rush of Barry's streak racing through the house. She could feel him watching her from the bathroom door, although she had not opened her eyes to see him yet she knew that he was smiling. She listened to his shoes as he padded across the ceramic tiles of the bathroom floor. She opened her eyes to look at him as he knelt by the bathtub.

 "Hey," Barry said, one of his hands dipping below the surface of the water to touch her small bump. His boyish grin was spread across his face and she couldn't help but to smile back.

"You're not even going to ask how I feel after chasing around the Flash all over Central City," she teased, laying a hand on top of his. He blushed a little, turning his hand in the water to squeeze hers.

"Sorry about that, you know, I have to maintain some air of mystery."

"Oh yeah," she laughed, "some 'air of mystery' you have... as you only grant interviews to one Iris Allen West."

"Only for Central City's finest." He leaned in and kissed her briefly. "But how was your day? I didn't mean to run away so fast on you. And how are our little tornadoes?"

She stopped and considered what he had just said, his final words making her mind race. She raised an eyebrow appraisingly.

"You said it again," she said suspiciously. Barry had been doing this since she told him that she was pregnant - referring to their baby as multiples. But she wasn't pregnant with more than one, her doctor had never once stated or hinted that she was carrying twins... or triplets... or quadruplets. Or any other number of multiples. But Barry still would slip every now and then and refer to their baby as multiples.

"Said what?" he asked cautiously, not meeting her eyes. From the side of his face he looked like a kid who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. She narrowed her eyes as he absentmindedly rubbed the bump.

"Referred to the baby as a plural, as in more than one Barry."

"Did I do that?" he near squeaked out. She cocked her head to the side and rolled her eyes as he continued to avoid looking at her face.

"Yes, you did." Barry coughed before she could continue, causing her to pause. "Barry West don't you dare tell me that you cheated and went to the future to see our child."

"No! Well... Yes," he admitted, finally looking her in the eye, hurrying before she could interrupt. "It wasn't on purpose. And it was before we even made that rule."

"Just how long was it?" He chewed at his bottom lip as she raised an eyebrow.

"Since before we were together," he said finally, bringing his wet hand up to ruffle his hair. "About a week before we got together actually."

Her hand came up and smacked his arm playfully, her hand lingering on his shoulder. He mimicked a hurt expression, smiling through his mocked pain. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

“So… do I get to know what we’re having?”

“Nope.”

She smacked him again

* * *

 

She was pulled out of her reverie by another contraction hitting her body, and she tried to keep from baring down. Her heart was pounding hard as the contraction passed, her grip on the armrest eased her breathing slowed. She looked around the empty room, her dad would be in here but he was coordinating the search for Barry. But how you can find the world’s fastest man was beyond her. That was her fault, she had waved him off, and now she was regretting that. He was just a phone call away, but she didn’t want to pull him away from this, but then again … if she couldn’t have Barry then at least she could have her dad.

She tried to stand up, her legs shaking from the pain coursing down her body. She dropped back down into the armchair a few seconds into her shaky attempt. She was slowly getting tempted into calling Joe but her contractions and the pain after were making it harder and harder to focus. She couldn’t even remember how far apart they were. Normally she would be much more thorough with this, but she just couldn’t keep track of them, but she knew that it had been less than four minutes.

Maybe calling her dad wasn’t an entirely bad idea.

She looked out the window, the sky was a dull grey, a far cry from the blood red it had been for the last few weeks. That had been the Flash, he saved the day like he always did. Central City’s hero. But she needed _her_ Barry Allen West, she needed her hero today.

Another contraction rocked through her body, her muscles squeezed and contracted. She raised in an arch slightly off of the chair, trying desperately to keep her breathing under control. She relaxed slightly as the contraction weaned off. She looked up at the clock, it had just hit the three minute mark since her last contraction.

Ok, now it was time to call her dad.

* * *

 

Twenty minutes later she was baring down for what felt like the hundredth time. Her left hand was wrapped in the bedding, while her right clinged to her dad’s for support. She could hear him saying encouraging things, urging her on, but she couldn’t focus. The pain was too much, and she was really regretting never losing her stubbornness because apparently at least one of her children had inherited it from her.

She fell back as the contraction ended, Joe brought a hand to wipe across her forehead. She smiled weakly, her eyes closed as she waited for the next contraction to hit. She could hear some commotion at the door, but she couldn’t pay attention, another contraction was seconds from hitting. But as she started to prepare to push she saw a familiar face.

“Barry!”

He looked surprised. His always childlike eyes wide, like a deer stuck in headlights. She could tell something was wrong, something was off, but the contraction started to hit and she was being told to push. Barry rushed over to her side and took her hand from Joe and squeezed as she pushed. She clung to his hand, her nails digging into his skin holding his existence to her, making sure he couldn’t leave her again. She let out a cry as the contraction weakened, the space between her legs feeling hot and hard. A sharp stinging raced up her body as her doctor called out that the baby’s head had dropped more.

She looked at Barry as she collapsed back, noticing how pale he was. His eyes were no longer wide in shock, he looked concerned, his other hand running through her hair. Something was still off about him but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

She untwisted her hand from his and brought it to his face. Tears started to fall from her face as he kissed the palm of her hand.

“I was worried that I’d never see you again,” she sobbed through the pain, her hand sliding to his hair. He smiled weakly, leaving her a bit confused, but before she could ask him what was wrong she had to start pushing again.

It wasn’t long before their daughter slipped into the world, their son following a few minutes after his sister. Barry was there, one of his hands tightly encased in hers, as the other ran through her hair. A nurse brought their son over to them while another cleaned their daughter off. Iris greedily reached for her son before the nurse had even had a chance to begin handing him to her.

She was so busy taking in her son for the first time that she didn’t notice that Barry had turned sheet white and backed away from the hospital bed slightly. She didn’t look up until the other nurse came over with their daughter. That’s when she realized what was off about Barry.

He was Barry, she knew that, but he wasn’t Barry now. He was missing the small scar on his cheek from the battle with the Reverse Flash. Her Barry’s face was still babyish, but this Barry’s face was more youthful than she had seen it be in years. His face was still brighter than the sun, not slightly worn from the ten years of being Central City’s hero. He was almost shaking as she watched the nurse place their daughter in his arms, as if he’d never practiced hold babies with any of her cousins.

He looked up and smiled nervously at her, the action threw her off and she turned her head to her father, the question in her eyes, he nodded affirming her suspicions. She watched as the nurses excused themselves.

“When are you from?” she asked Barry as the door closed behind the nurses. Barry smiled guiltily as Joe came around the bed and took the baby girl from him.

“I’m guessing not anytime near now,” he said running his fingers through his hair. “What’s the date?”

“April of 2024.”

Time travel rule #315, never give the exact date. Barry had taught her that long ago, something about knowing the date could tear open the space-time continuum or something ridiculous and confusing like that. Time travel gave her a headache

“March of 2014, for me.”

Iris counted back. March of 2014 was when she and Barry had gotten together for the first time. March of 2014 was also the first time Barry had time traveled and… oh.

“Your first time traveling was to me…” she rocked their son gently. Barry nodded and smiled down at their son as he began to fuss.

“He’s like you,” he said, his hand reaching out to run a finger down the baby’s cheek. “Cisco just said that you were in here… he didn’t tell me… have we named them?”

“We talked about named, but we never settled on one,” she said as she maneuvered her son so she could open her hospital gown to feed him. She saw Barry avert his eyes from the sight of her bare breast. She snorted as he did so, laughing internally at how uncomfortable he was with her, she hadn’t see him act like this around her in ages. “Well actually, we decided on Nora and Henry as middle names, but we never really decided on first names. That might be because you already knew the names though…”

“Can we not start with the time travel talk,” Joe interjected, “my head already hurts.”

Barry snorted in agreement, his eyes moving to their daughter, who was beginning to fuss in Joe’s arms. She watched him as he ran a finger down their daughter’s face.

“You know, you didn’t have to stop holding her,” she said causing Barry’s head to whip around to look at her, a faint blush creeping on his cheeks at her undressed state. “She is your daughter.”

Barry shifted awkwardly as he moved his arms into a makeshift cradle. Iris and Joe shared an amused look as Joe placed the baby in Barry’s arms, correcting his hands. Now she understood why Barry had seemed so adept at this when Wally’s daughter had been born, he’d already gotten some practice in with their own children. Iris watched carefully as Barry held their daughter cautiously in his arms. Tears began to slip down her face as Barry’s own tears began to fall while he smiled down at the baby. Joe excused himself to give them a few minutes alone. She wiped her tears away as their boy began to squirm away from her breast, readjusting him back into place.

“Aurora,” Barry said suddenly, he had turned his body to look at her while she had been distracted. She raised her eyebrow inquisitively. “It’s just… she looks like sunshine. She’s already smiling, and it’s so early, like dawn. We should name her Aurora.”

“I like Aurora,” Iris said smiling. “Aurora Nora Allen West, I really like that. And this little guy will be… Jai.”

“It’s close enough to Joe,” Barry agreed, moving carefully to the bed. He sat down, balancing Aurora safely in his arms.

“Jai Henry,” she said. “For both of our dads.”

“It’s perfect,” Barry smiled, his fallen tears glistening on his cheeks. “Iris why am I not –”

“No, shush,” she leaned forward, taking care not to jostle Jai around, and placed a finger on his lips. “I can’t tell you anything about anything, it could change the past – your future.”

“But I’m here now,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but I already knew you were coming… sort of. It’s complicated.”

Barry nodded in agreement, his eyes wide and puzzled. Jai began to fuss, obviously done with his feeding time. She and Barry spent the next few minutes trying to trade the twins safely on their own. It took more than a few tries but they eventually got it, and now Aurora was happily feeding away and Barry had Jai securely in his arms.

She watched him as Aurora fed. So much about him had stayed the same over the ten years, and so much was so different now too. While he hadn’t lost too much of his wide-eyed idealist, he had become somewhat hardened over time. The betrayal of Wells, then Caitlin’s turn to evil, and then the death of his father had taken their toll on her Barry over the years. And with a Barry unaffected by all of the hurt that was coming she just wanted to keep him safe from it all. But she knew that she couldn’t, he’d have to go through all of it and grow into the hero Central City adored. They sat in silence for a while, time slipping by them before Joe came back into the hospital room, followed by two nurses telling them that it was time for visitor’s to leave.

Barry handed Jai to the nurse who moved him to a hospital grade bassinet. She unlatched Iris from her breast as the other nurse approached to take her to the nursery too. As she handed Aurora to the nurse she saw Barry eye the clock warily. Joe kissed her head and said his goodbye as Barry shuffled over to her. Barry leaned down to her after Joe walked away.

“I don’t know where he is, but if there’s one thing I know about myself,” Barry whispered in her ear, “it’s that he wouldn’t leave you for too long.”

She smiled sadly as Barry kissed her cheek. And in an instant he was gone, leaving her behind… or he was running to her. Either way, he was right. They couldn’t stay apart for too long, she no matter where the Flash went, she’d be waiting.

**Author's Note:**

> A note on the Tornado Twins names, I know in the comics they're Don and Dawn, but as a mother myself I view that as extremely cruel (really what were the comic writers thinking), so I decided to change their names. Aurora obviously means dawn, and has a similar feel to Iris. And Jai is the name of one of Wally's twins, but I decided to steal it since we don't know if Wally exists in this universe (obviously I decided that he did, and I stole Don's wife's name for his daughter), plus Jai feels like something Iris would name one of her children.


End file.
